Aigai Ancient City, one of the 12 Aeolian Cities established in Western Anatolia, is located in the Yuntdağıköseler District of Yunusemre district and has a deep-rooted history of 2,700 years. Archaeological excavations for 2024 started within the scope of the ‘Heritage to the Future Project’ implemented by the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums. In these important excavations, which were carried out with the sponsorship support of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, Yunusemre Municipality and Aliağa Municipality, the 2,200-year-old structure of the ancient city, known as the city square or agora, was discovered.
Intensive efforts are being made to unearth the agora, which is located adjacent to the parliament building. As the work continued, interesting finds began to emerge in the excavation area. Bull-headed reliefs and inscriptions related to the god Apollo were found on the columns in the city square.
“We are working to reveal the heart and center of the city”
Head of Manisa Celal Bayar University (MCBÜ) Archeology Department and Head of Excavations, Prof., who has been leading the excavations in Aigai for 21 years. Dr. Yusuf Sezgin gave detailed information about the work carried out. Emphasizing the importance of the agora, Prof. Dr. Sezgin said, “This region is the heart and center of the ancient city. There is an area where all public buildings are gathered and people continue their daily lives. Agora is one of the symbols of Aigai, and there are porticoes with columns called ‘ Stoas’ around it. In this respect, this is the place.” “This is an extremely important point.” he said
Drawing attention to the 2,200-year history of the ancient city, Sezgin stated that this date points to the period when the agora and the city’s parliament building were built, and noted that there is some archaeological evidence on this subject.
Stating that they obtained interesting findings during the excavations in Aigai, Prof. Dr. Sezgin said, “We found reliefs with bull heads under the roofs of stoas, which we do not often encounter in the ancient world. We think these findings are important. Because bull heads are often depicted in connection with gods. A few examples of such “Reliefs have been encountered in the ancient world. Most likely, these bull heads are associated with Apollo.” “It must be related, because inscriptions about the god Apollo were also unearthed near the excavation site.” he said
Sezgin stated that such stoas usually have a simple architectural structure, but if they are associated with an offering, they think that the relief bull heads may be connected to rituals related to the gods. “This may be linked to an offering to the gods, perhaps related to an important battle or the reconstruction of the city.” He concluded his words by saying:
